Analysing the Basel draw.
Posted by tennisplanet on October 22, 2007
Federer won the title last year.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Nalbandian is entered to play here.
Reminds you of someone else who met Federer, so early after defeating him? I am getting tired of this weird looking word ‘Deja vu’.
Nalbandian is on course to meet Federer in the semis, but he has a tougher road to get there, than Federer. Shouldn’t he be meeting him in the finals?
If all goes well, this is how Federer’s schedule should look like:
2nd round: Del Potro.
3rd round: Kiefer.
Semis: Nalbandian.
Finals: Gonzalez.
But Nalbandian has Blake, Karlovic and Berdych to deal with, before he can duplicate Canas’s feat.
For Federer, this looks like a walk in the park, coming off a loaded ATP Masters Series event. But that finals loss, throws a wrench, in an otherwise straight forward march to the title.
Semifinal match in Federer’s half of the draw, will effectively be the finals. Matches to watch for, are all in Nalbandian’s half of the draw.
Tennis Planet 
Jenny said
Just an interesting head to head with Nalbandian’s possible opponents you mention:
Karlovic O Nalby 2
Blake 1 Nalby 0
Berdych 1 Nalby 3
Anand_101 said
Somehow I don’t think Nalby will make his date with Fed :).
He will want to relish his win and live in the illusion of “I can beat anybody when I’m on my game” through the holidays.
Gracie said
IMO, the draw is not really a walk in the park. And I’m not as sure as you that Kiefer or Nalbandian (Blake, Karlovic) will make it through, but I suppose it’s possible.
I don’t think the loss to Nalbandian throws a big wrench in. It might only make Fed more determined to get a win here. Roger played great tennis last week, and he knows it. He lost to a guy who’s beaten him before and whose serving kicked ass in the final. And you never know what might have happened if it had been a ‘real’ final, with five sets. By the fourth, Fed might have figured out how better to deal with David’s serve. Guess we could find out in Basel if he’s able to make any adjustments. And we’ll find out if Nalby is on a roll, or if coming ‘down’ from Madrid makes him play flat. I think a loss here would bother Roger more than the one in Madrid (especially since he didn’t lose to Djok or Nadal there). I wish him luck!
rickie said
Roger will bounce back in Basel. It broke my heart to see him so shell-shocked and sad on the bench after the Madrid final. He is human and sometimes in sports the best man doesn’t always win. Fortunately it usually doesn’t happen two times in a row.